Mary D. Salter Ainsworth
American Psychologist who devised the Strange Situation procedure to measure attachment; contributed to attachment theory
Renee Baillargeon
Canadian-born psychologist whose studies of cognitive development during infancy using visual rather than manual tasks challenged beliefs about the age at which object permanence first appears.
Sandra Lipsitz Bem
American psychologist who has conducted extensive research on sex roles and gender indentity; proposed gender schema theory to explain gender-role development.
Erik Erikson
German-born American psychoanalyst who proposed an influential theory of psychological development throughout the lifespan.
Jean Piaget
Swiss child psychologist whose influential theory proposed that children progress through distinct stages of cognitive development.
Lev Vygotsky
Russian psychologist who stressed the importance of social and cultural influences in cognitive development.
Developmetal Psychology
The branch of psychology that studies how people change over the lifespan.
zygote
The single cell formed at conception from the union of the egg cell and sperm cell.
Chromosome
A long, threadlike structure composed of twisted parallel strands of DNA; found in the cell nucleus.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
The double-stranded molecule that encodes genetic instructions; the chemical basis of heredity.
Gene
A unit of DNA on a chromosome that encodes instructions for making a particular protein molecule; the basic unit of heredity.
Genotype
The genetic makeup of an individual organism.
Human Genome
The scientific descripton of the complete set of DNA in the human organism, including gene locations.
Allele
One of the different forms of a particular gene.
Phenotype
The observable traits or characteristics of an organism as determined by the interaction of genetics and environmental factors.
Sex Chromosomes
Chromosomes, designated as X or Y, that determine biological sex; the 23rd pair of chromosomes i humans.
Prenatal Stage
The stage of development before birth; divided into the germinal, embryonic, and fetal periods.
Germinal Period
The first two weeks of prnatal develpment.
Embryonic Period
The second period of prenatal development, extending from the third week through the eighth week.
Teratogens
Harmful agents or substances that can cause malformations or defects in a embryo or fetus.
Fetal Period
The third and longest period of prenatal developmet, extending from the ninth week until birth.
Temperament
Inborn predispositions to consistently behave and react in a certain way.
Attachment
The emotional bond that forms between an infant and caregiver(s), especially his or her parents.
Comprehension Vocabulary
The words that are understood by an infant or child.
Production Vocabulary
The words that an infant or child understands and can speak.
Gender
The cultural, social, and psychological meanings that are associated with masculine or feminine in a given culture.
Gender Roles
The behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits that are designated as either masculine or feminine in a given culture.
Gender Identity
A person's psychological sense of being male or female.
Social learning theory of gender-role development
The theory that gender roles are acquired through the basic processes of learning, including reinforcement, punishment, and modeling.
Gender schema theory
The theory that gender-role developmet is influenced by the formation of schemas, or mental representations, of masculinity and femininity.
Sensorimotor stage
In Piagets theory, the first stage of cogitive development, from birth to about age 2; the period during which the infant explores the environment and acquires knowledge through sensing and manipulating objects.
Object permanence
The understanding that an object continues to exist even when it can no longer be seen.
Preoperational stage
In Piaget's theory, the second stage of cogitive development, which lasts from about age 2 to age 7; characterized by increasing use of symbols and prelogical thought processes.
Symbolic thought
The ability to use words, images, and symbols to represent the world.
Egocentrism
In Piaget's theory, the inability to take another person's perspective or point of view.
Irreversibility
In Piaget's theory, the inability to mentally reverse a sequence of events or logical operations.
Centration
In Piaget's theory, the tendency to focus, or center, on only one aspect of a situation and ignore other important aspects of the situation.
Conservation
In Piaget's theory, the understanding that two equal quantities remain equal even though the form or appearance is rearranged, as long as nothing is added or subtracted.
Concrete Operational Stage
In Piaget's theory, the third stage of cognitive development, which lasts from about age 7 to adolescence; charactrized by the ability to think logically about concrete objects and situations.
Formal Operational Stage
In Piaget's theory, the fourth stage of cognitive development, which lasts from adolescence through adulthood; characterized by the ability to think logically about abstract principles and hypothetical situations.
Zone of Proximal development
In Vygtsky's theory of cognitive development, the difference between what children can accomplish on their own and what they can accomplish with the help of others who are more competent.
Information-processing model of Cogniteve Development
The model that views cognitive development as a process that is contiuous over the lifespan and that studies the development of basic mental processes such as attention, memory, and problem solving.
Adolescence
The transitional stage between late childhood and the beginning of adulthood, during which sexual maturity is reached.
Puberty
The stage of adolescence in which an individual reaches sexual maturity and becomes physiologically capable of sexual reproduction.
Primary sex Characteristics
Sexual organs that are directly involved in reproduction, such as the uterus, ovaries, penis, and testicles.
Secondary sex characteristics
Sexual characteristics that develop during puberty and are not directly involved in reproduction but differentiate between the sexes, such as male facial hair and female breast developmet.
Adolescent growth spurt
The period of accelerated growth during puberty, involving rapid increases in height and weight.
Menarche
A female's first menstrual period, which occurs during puberty.
Identity
A person's definition or description of himself or herself, including the values, beliefs, and ideals that guide the individual's behavior.
Menopause
The natural cessation of menstruation and the end of reproductive capacity in women
Activity theory of aging
The psychosocial theory that life satisfaction in late adulthood is highest when people maintain the level of activity they displayed earlier in life.
Authoritarian parenting style
Parenting style in which parents are demanding and unresponive toward their children's needs or wishes.
Permissive parenting style
Parenting style in which parents are extremely tolerant and not demanding; permissive-indulgent parents are more responsive to their children, whereas permissive-indifferent parents are not.
Authoritative parenting style
Parenting style in which parents set clear standards for their children's behavior but are also responsive to their children's needs and wishes.
Induction
A discipline technique that combines parental control with explaning why a behavior is prohibited.